This invention relates to a cloth spreading machine, and more particularly to a cloth spreading machine having a manually operable drive disconnect device.
Heretofore, in cloth spreading machines having motor-driven wheels, it has been extremely difficult to move the machine without energizing the drive motor.
Occasinally it is desirable to move the machine short distances, such as for aligning the edge of the cloth on the machine with the edges of the stacked layers of cloth upon the cutting table, before starting the drive motor to move the frame for actually laying the cloth.
Sometimes it is desirable to be able to manually push or move the spreading machine where there has been a power failure, or where power is unavailable, such as in moving the cloth spreading machine from one room to another or from one cutting table to another. In all of these situations, where the wheels of the machine frame are drivingly connected to the motor and the motor is not energized, any manual movement of the machine frame must be effected against the inertia of the entire transmission system as well as the motor itself.